Re: Mobile Insider - Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge

I have a great idea on the review if one more handset can be organised. Happy to return it back if needed. Would like to trial this new way of interacting with anyone who has any questions on the S6 Edge and future products

Re: Mobile Insider - Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge

We got one on launch day, so we've had it for coming up a week. We decided this would be ideal for my wife and run parralel to my Note 4 Edge, even though considerably more expensive.

The battery is to say the least woeful compared to the note and her previous S4.

We are in the city and we struggle to achieve 4G service the note kills it and so did her S4 on 3G. 3G on this is so sol.

You're paying a premium for the edge effects on the screen but you are getting a couple of features, but don't ecpect Note Edge features or performance. Because of the edge on each side of the phone it makes trying to thumb text a terrible act. The two edges and the gkass back of the phone make it as slippery as a wet fish. There's no positive grip areas anywhere on the phone.

Re: Mobile Insider - Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge

The phone arrived in a nice plain box that is very compact in size, in fact is barely larger than the size of the phone itself. Upon opening the box the first thing that struck me is how clean and understated the front of the phone looks.

Digging further into the box reveals some standard array of accessaries, including the wall charger, sync/charging cable, and here is a rarity in recent times: A set of headphones!

Well done Telstra and Samsung, I appluad you on giving the customers what they paid for - considering the price of this handset if purchased outright.

Turning the phone on for the first time the set-up process begins. Here is a tip: if you have another android device with NFC(does NOT have to be running lollipop) you can transfer majority of your data across to your new Galaxy S6 by tapping the two phones together, and just like that voila, my phone was ready to go with all the apps emails and contacts from the old phone. Very convenient,

I'd like to show you what the screen looks like, but my older phone's camera just cannot pick up how good the SuperAMOLED 2560x1440 screen looks, it is an absolute wonder how beautiful the colours are, and how sharp text look. Trust me, you need to go to your local Telstra store and see it in person, it is THAT good.

Another feature of the S6 is its finger print scanner, which lives in the home button. It works much better than the one inside my friend's S5, because the old one requires a swipe to read the fingerprint whereas the new one is like TouchID, you just place your finger on it and the phone magically unlocks. It is very reliable, works for me over 95% of the time, very impressed.

This concludes my first impression of the Galaxy S6, detailed analysis will be coming over the next few days with more on the camera, battery, performance, network speeds and software experience, oh and call quality - it is a phone after all! If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask, either here or over on twitter tw@billchen0014.

Again thanks Telstra for the opportunity to review this amazing device!

Bill C.

Need help? Send a message via Twitter @billchen0014 And I will try my best

Re: Mobile Insider - Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge

It would be awesome if you could do a review comparing the fingerprint scanner on the G6 to the iPhone 6! Also interested to know whether the packaging for the G6 is environmentally friendly? I know that HTC designs great packages that are biodegradable so I always like seeing whether other companies do the same thing!

Re: Mobile Insider - Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge

I don't have an iPhone 6 or even a 5S, but for me, a fingerprint scanner either works, or doesn't. The one on the S5 from last year didn't because it was too slow and the ratio between successful unlocks and unsuccessful is low enough that many considered to be unreliable for such a frequent task. From what I have experienced on the S6, it just works. I have no complaints there. And based on what I have seen, yes the box is eco-friendly though I have no experience in that area whatsoever so I will let the box itself do the talking.

Need help? Send a message via Twitter @billchen0014 And I will try my best

Re: Mobile Insider - Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge

Kudos for replying so promptly! It might be worth sourcing a friend who has an iPhone or going into a Telstra Store to check out touch ID. From my experience (I currently own a 6), touch ID works fairly well as long as your hands aren't dirty or sweaty! Would be interesting to see whether this is the case with the G6

Re: Mobile Insider - Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge

If can find out things like if your screen brightness keeps unchecking after set to auto.... the night clock lights up whole screen (making useless) ... wi fi keeps dropping out .... Telstra Edge 64gb ...interesting others on generic firmware are not reporting same bugs

Re: Mobile Insider - Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge

The Galaxy S6 is a beautiful phone even without the curves of the S6 Edge. The Gorilla glass fronts and backs are cool to the touch as glass should be, and gives you the feeling that the phone is a carefully crafted piece of jewellery - it feels expensive, and rightly so. The aluminuim rim around the phone is flat on the sides giving the user a grip to hold onto the phone, though the glass back is slippery and personally I would recommend a case if you're clumsy - after all glass is prone to shattering no matter how good the strengthening process maybe (and no, I have no intentions to do a drop test anytime soon )

All the hardware buttons are clicky and gives a solid feedback when pressed, so you can be certain when you press it, always a sign of good build quality. The softkeys (Multitasking and back) lights up when touched, a tad too bright for use in the dark as their brightness icannot be changed, they won't blind you but I wish they can change in brightness along with the screen which by the way is both the brightest and dimmest I have ever seen on a phone - great for use both outdoors and bed time reading.

The colour I was given was Black Sapphire which changes colour depending on the angle you look at it: if a light source reflects off it, its a subtle dark navy colour, otherwise it's mostly black and very business-like and reserved. I am a big fan of this design.

Here is something that I am pleasantly surprised by, the glass on the front of the phone is ever so slightly curved, giving it a pebble sort of feel when you slide your finger from the edge to open side menus. It feels very smooth and not jarring like on the M8, however the effect is just not as significant as the S6 Edge.

The loud speaker on the buttom is loud and clear (maybe not to the same level as Boomsound from the M8 but more than usable), however, becareful not to cover it up - it fades to almost nothing if you cover it with your fingers.

In conclusion, if you have ever decided against buying a Galaxy device before because it just doesn't feel "premium" enough (plastic-y/flimsy), this Galaxy is completely different. It feels high-end, it feels good in the hand, and dare I say it, it feels like an Apple product. That is one of the highest praise a phone can get as far as many are concerned, well done Samsung. Well done.

Need help? Send a message via Twitter @billchen0014 And I will try my best

The S6 Edge and the regular S6 comes in 32/64/128 GB configuration with choices of Pearl White or Black Sapphire colours. I’ve heard that more colours will be available in Australia soon. The one I got is the 32GB Pearl White version from Telstra. One advantage of getting the white one is it hides fingerprints, especially on the back, really well.

The S6 Edge features killer innards! It is powered by Samsung's own octa-core Exynos 7420 1.5GHz CPU which devours the also powerful Snapdragon 810 found on the HTC One M9 in benchmarks. Multitasking wouldn't be a problem as well as Samsung paired the powerful CPU with 3GB of super-speedy LPDDR4 RAM. Remember when your computer had 2GB of RAM?

One thing that keep people excited is the camera. It's all about the camera in this Instagram era (My IG: @anjomiranda). Sadly, the usual drawback on Android phones is the terrible camera hardware and software manufacturers include on their phones. For me personally, as an avid photo enthusiast, camera quality is a major consideration when I look to buying a new phone. Luckily, Samsung had improved its camera experience and based on what I've been seeing in recent reviews, the photo quality coming out of the S6's even trumps the quality of the iPhone 6 Plus' aka The King of Smartphone Cameras! So this is one area where I'm really excited about.

I'll definitely be posting camera samples in the coming days in varying environments and light situations.

The phone supports the new 4GX network so you’ll be assured that you get more speed and coverage from your area.

Unboxing

The phone came in a very simple off white and white packaging, a nice clean change from the faux wooden packaging you get with the previous Galaxy phones and tablets. You will also notice the fresh fonts they used on the Galaxy branding. I like it better -- Simple, modern and clean. The box did have the Carbon Trust logo and printed with soy ink mark, so to answer the ecofriendliness, I believe it is!

Upon opening the box, the first thing you see is the striking design of the Galaxy S6 Edge. It really looks beautiful in person! Of course, the main differentiation from the regular S6 is its dual edge design that has the front glass tapering down to both sides of the screen. The phone felt very premium upon holding it as it features Gorilla Glass 4 on both the front and the back, which definitely adds more durability. It is encased with an aluminium frame on the side.

Again, Samsung took a different approach to the design this time around and went in for more premium materials rather than the plastic feel that most people complained about on the previous iteration.

Along with the phone, the box came in with the usual accessories: a flat-cable stereo headset, which looks quite similar to the Apple earpods, a microUSB charging cable, a SIM eject tool and a power adapter. A quick startup guide, which no one ever reads, and a warranty information card is also included. Oh, the S6 Edge uses a nano sim if you're wondering.

Starting up the phone prompted me with the usual Language preference, Google login and WiFi network selection. Since the phone runs on Lollipop, it will you to import setting from an older phone easily, using Tap & Go, utilising NFC technology.

Another restore option is Samsung’s very own Smart Switch, which “lets you transfer Music, Clips, Photos, Contacts, Messages and more from your old compatible smartphone to your new compatible Samsung device.” You can even transfer content from your iPhone, with some limitations. I haven’t tried this, as I want to set new phones as new devices.

Fingerprint Scanner

During the initial setup, the phone also allows you to add a fingerprint with the revamped fingerprint scanner on the home button. This security feature can be used with web sign in, payment options like PayPal and work with third party apps like LastPass. The setup and how the fingerprint scanning works similarly with that of the iPhone 6. No more of that silly sliding of fingers on the S5!

It was a hit and miss for me unlocking the phone with the fingerprint scanner but I’ve managed to learn how to use it properly by making sure you have most of your finger covering the home button. It does say that though during screen unlocking. I have tried adding several fingerprint profile of the same thumb just to be sure it’s easy for me to unlock the phone depending on the position of my thumb. I’ve done this on my iPhone 6 Plus as well and I think it helps.

Initial impressions

The phone is really beautiful. It will probably be the most beautifully designed phone for this year. This is a phone that will catch everyone’s eye in the public. It is just unusual to see a curved phone in public so prepare to get noticed when you’re holding this phone out there. In terms of handling the phone, I personally had no problems with it. The aluminium frame may come a little bit sharp, especially where the glass and the frame meet but not so much that it is uncomfortable. It really feels very premium.

The screen is gorgeous, even better with my iPhone 6 Plus. This is to be expected as it comes with a Super AMOLED screen with a 577 ppi, vs the iPhone 6 Plus’ 401 ppi, so expect a vivid and pixel-packed clear screen. On the early days of SAMOLED screens, the colours will be just over the top and the whites will tend to lean on the bluer tone, but they hit it perfectly this time around.

Gliding your fingers on the curved edges of the screen just feels… sexy. It’s a different feeling! Test it out in the store if you have time and you’ll know what I’m saying. Aesthetics aside, I haven’t really used much of the Edge capabilities the phone offers so I’ll probably review that on the coming days.

The whole UI is much more simplified TouchWiz which is a breath of fresh air. The animations and overall design are very clean and fluid. Samsung definitely listened to its customers, as most people hated on the heavy unnecessary bloatware found on previous Galaxy phones.

The phone is blazing fast and I haven’t experienced any heating issues, crashes or lags as of yet.

The phone signal reception is fine. I live in the South East Melbourne suburbs and I get full bar of 2G/3G signal and 2 bars 4G. I will test it out in more locations in the next few days.

Initial Complaints

The phone is not perfect. One of the few cons I have early on in this review is the location of the volume buttons. I have regular-sized hands and it is impossible for me to adjust the volume without readjusting the position of my hands. They are placed just too high for me in a regular one-handed use.

Also an early con for me is the lack of expandable storage. I assumed they eliminated this option for speed but flexibility is one thing that I love in an Android phone. With the 32GB variant, only about 23GB is available for personal storage. I take a lot of photos and videos and download a lot of podcasts and for the price that is almost comparable to the iPhone 6 Plus, I kind of wished it had that expandability. The HTC One M9 still kept its microSD slot by the way.

One last initial con for me is the speaker placement. The speaker is loud and clear, but not as loud and crisp sounding as even last year’s HTC One M8 and the Z3. I personally think front-facing speakers are the future! The speaker is located on the right bottom part of the phone and it can easily be blocked with the palm or the fingers depending on the orientation. And once it’s blocked, you can barely hear anything!

So that’s about it with my initial review. I will be talking about the camera and the Edge functionailities on my next post. And also, will answer more of your questions! Stay tuned.

Re: Mobile Insider - Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge

"Gliding your fingers on the curved edges of the screen just feels… sexy. It’s a different feeling! Test it out in the store if you have time and you’ll know what I’m saying. Aesthetics aside, I haven’t really used much of the Edge capabilities the phone offers so I’ll probably review that on the coming days."

Oooh err!

I'm really looking forward to some info on the edge's capabilities vs the tactile experience of it.

Re: Mobile Insider - Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge

I really enjoyed reading this! And the photos you provided are so pretty!

I really like your Instagram, btw!

I'll be very interested to hear your camera review! From other reviewers I know, it's fairly amazing! I completely agree with you when you said that buying this phone would make you stand out. I think I am drawn to the Edge's design because it's more risky compared other mobile manufacturers. Remember the good old days, prior to the first iPhone, when every phone had its own personality, its own quirks? I love the fact that the Edge gives me the same sort of excitement about mobile design as the Motorola Razr back in the day!!

Re: Mobile Insider - Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge

@FelicityCull I'll definitely tackle on the functionalities of the Edge's screen on my next post. I wanted to focus on the feel of the phone on the initial review as many would be curious how different it would feel

@ccarolynwestt Thank you so much! I'm really glad you like my photos on Instagram

That's very true! This is indeed a head-turner! And I can't wait for Samsung or third-party apps to add more functionalities that came with its unique design!

Re: Mobile Insider - Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge

@dracomjb hey there. Having used the previous version of Android on the S5 and the stock version of it on the Nexus 5, I must say, I'm liking it. Subtle changes but it still keeps the nice fluid animations and elements of stock lollipop.

One thing I hate though is there is no option to hide the S finder and Quick connect buttons on the notification drawer. It takes up a bit of space.

The ability to theme the entire UI is a nice touch if you like customising the looks of your phone

Re: Mobile Insider - Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge

The Galaxy S line has always had good cameras, but all seemed to live under the shadow of the Colossus - the iPhone, despite having obvious advantages in terms of specifications. On the S6 Samsung went with the same Sony IMX240 sensor as found on the Note 4, but not without some improvements, most notably the aperture increased from f/2.2 to f/1.9 (smaller is better as it lets more light in). For those impatient, my conclusion is this: overall quality of the S6’s camera is as good as Android phones get, a camera that gives the iPhone 6 Plus a run for its money.

Here are the details.

Let me address the elephant in the room, yes there is a noticeable camera hump but that is totally worth it. The protruding camera doesn’t affect the phone’s balance on a table under normal use, though what prolonged exposure to the table surface will do to the camera lens is still unknown. The rear sensor is 16MP with a resolution of 2988 x 5312, which is double the iPhone’s puny 8MP sensor, and smashes the UltraPixel camera from the M8 into the middle of last week (actually more like middle of last year). The larger aperture allows the phone to collect more light, thus compensating for a relatively small pixel size of 1.1 microns, compared to the iPhone’s 1.5µm and M8’s 2µm, boosting its low light performance. Another notable feature of the S6 is its OIS (Optical Image Stabilisation) which is a motor inside the camera module that cancels out the shaky-ness of the user’s hands while taking a photo, it allow the aperture to stay open longer in darker situations, directly improving the end result. Now enough specs you say, get to the sample shots!

First I would like to compare the S6 against the M8 as it was my old phone, and the differences are HUGE. Take a look at the following picture:

First of all, exposure. The day quite sunny for Melbourne, and to challenge the cameras I decided to take photos of these newly built houses, as the sun was almost directly behind them. The M8 had poor dynamic range and entire photo looks washed out as it overexposed the scene, whereas the S6 picked a much better exposure and was able to capture detail both in the darker foreground and the clouds in the sky. Very impressive for a mobile camera. The colours look more saturated on the S6 and more natural on the M8, though I personally, like many casual photographers, prefer the more saturated look as it bring more drama into the scene. Zooming in is when the S6 superiority really shows. The M8 struggled to capture stripes of wood above the car as the gaps in between the planks are very blurry and almost indistinguishable, whereas the S6 quite easily captured that part of the scene with much more detail. The headlights and the badge on the car are also reflective of the S6’s superior resolution. In broad daylight, I have no doubt that the S6 has one of, if not the best camera on a smartphone.

Turn the lights down, and the S6 still performs.

This is in a dark-ish room and the difference between the M8 and the S6 is surprising. The brighter photo is actually from the S6 (it may look like the lamp was on, but trust me it wasn't). I know the M8 is supposed to be good at low light photography but in this case, the S6’s shot is far better in terms of brightness and colour reproduction. The white balance was not too cool like the M8’s and I think it is almost spot on. Digital noise is introduced into the photograph unavoidably but seems to be well controlled by the software algorithm. With the inclusion of the wide f1.9 aperture and OIS the S6 can still make decent photos even when the lights are off.

The camera UI is much cleaner in this iteration of Touchwiz, all the commonly used controls are easily accessible – Timer, HDR, Flash etc. Different modes can be accessed from the Mode button on the bottom right corner, though I suspect that you won’t be needing this very often, as the Auto mode does very well in most scenes.

More modes can be downloaded from the Samsung App store via the download button, modes like beauty face.

In conclusion, the S6’s camera can capture amazing photos with saturated colours and plentiful detail in the daylight, while still keeping up in less well lit scenarios. This is the camera to beat in 2015. More sample shots comparing the M8 and S6 can be found in full resolution here: http://bit.ly/1HqyK3E Software Experience will be my next post, Anjo, i am leaving the front facing camera to you as both phones are identical in the camera area, and you're way nicer looking than I will ever be!

Need help? Send a message via Twitter @billchen0014 And I will try my best

Re: Mobile Insider - Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge

YES! I AM SO PSYCHED FOR THIS CAMERA. As a photographer, the amount of quality you got out of that zoom on a camera phone is just...ugh yes! In fact, I don't think I could get that level of detail out of my iPhone 6! I also had an M8 last year and although I managed to get some wicked shots out of it, but the photos required a lot more processing than shooting with my iPhone.

I'm curious, did you take these shots using HDR because if not, I'm really impressed with the G6's ability to capture the shadows without overblowing the highlights! It would also be cool to hear your thoughts on pro mode, if you're game! Great review of the camera!

Re: Mobile Insider - Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge

I changed the link, should be working now. The pro mode was somewhat of a disappointment as it didn't offer me all the controls I wanted to see, particularly shutter speed, as was available on the M8. But then again, at no point did I ever want to adjust any of the settings manually - the auto mode adjusts all the parameters just as i would in pro mode for the best result, and I think if you really want to get the ISO down manually to get less noise at night and compensate by decreasing the shutter speed etc you'd be better off getting a dedicated camera anyway. As far as I remember HDR was OFF not in AUTO as was on the M8 to make it fair, though I suspect HDR would've improved M8's result more than the S6's. More S6 specific shots will be upload in full resolution in the shared folder as well as the thread here albeit at a lower quality (upload limit).

Need help? Send a message via Twitter @billchen0014 And I will try my best

Re: Mobile Insider - Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge

Yes, I agree that the shutter speed would be a nice addition to pro mode although it's great that you can adjust focus manually. At the moment, I can only do this on my iPhone by using an app such as VSCOcam and I just think something like pro mode should be available on all devices without downloading a third party application. Of course getting a dedicated camera is always more preferable, especially in low light and tricky lighting because the quality will be greater. But, as they say, the best camera is the one that you have in your pocket and well, I can't fit a Canon 5D Mk III in my pocket.

Re: Mobile Insider - Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge

I have tried playing Asphalt 8, which is a pretty graphics and processor heavy game and the S6 Edge ran it flawlessly. The animations were smooth, the screen was vivid and gorgeuos, and the sound was great. No lags at all.

Phone quality is what you would expect from Samsung, especially with a premium phone. Audio quality from both sides were loud and clear. Both models of the S6 feature an active noise-cancellation mic located on the top part of the phone that should eliminate background noises while on a call, which worked really well on my case.

Re: Mobile Insider - Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge

Would love to see some night time photos. Also how's the battery life going now that you've had them for a bit? Also do you find if you leave something like the camera or google maps running in the background the phone heats up? (big issue with my z1 compact!) Thanks

Re: Mobile Insider - Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge

Update: Compared the S6 Edge and the iPhone 6 Plus in a viber call (I did outgoing videocalls for both), the video call quality wasn't that good on the S6 Edge. On loudspeaker mode, the S6 Edge's speakers were significantly softer than that of the iP6+ and the person I was talking too can barely hear me as well. All volume settings were on max and both phones connected to same wifi network.

I believe any phone when using the camera will get warm. The S6 Edge did get warm but not hot and uncomfortable to hold.

Re: Mobile Insider - Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge

If there had been one thing that kept me from recommending older Samsung phones is the software, Touchwiz is known in the industry as the most heavy “android skin” that manufactures put on top of stock Android. It was sluggish, cartoon-y, packed full with unnecessary and hard to use gimmicks, making the experience of using the phone a chore. NOT THIS TIME. The new Touchwiz, much like the hardware, is representative of a new era for Samsung. It is sleek, fast, and perhaps most noticeably unobtrusive, gone were those annoying tutorials that pops up every time you go into a Samsung app, teaching you tricks that you would never use outside of the pub showing off to your mates. The new UI is much easier for a new user to grasp, so even an iPhone veteran can get comfortable using this phone in minutes. The new icons are still a bit cartoon-y for me compared to the material design guidelines introduced in Android 5.0 Lollipop, however, once you go into the apps themselves the UI is much cleaner and flatter, and each app has a distinctive “theme colour”, much like another Android skin, *cough HTC Sense *cough.

The pulldown notification bar is cleaned up as well, quick toggles can be customised with the “Edit” button and up to ten can be placed on the top of the status bar.

Launcher

The launcher is minimalist like the rest of the UI, which I like, however, one crucial feature is missing: sorting apps in alphabetical order, which hopefully will be (re)introduced as an OS update later down the track. Homescreens can be customised with widgets, icons short cuts etc and one new option is added: homescreen grid, which gives the user the choice between 4x4, 4x5 or 5x5 grid for the homescreen, allowing for more space or bigger icons.

Multitasking

My favourite feature of the Touchwiz skin has always been the multitasking capabilities, which is further refined in this iteration of Touchwiz to be the most intuitive and fluid version yet.

You can enter the split screen mode by either long pressing the multitasking button or click on the split screen icon in the recent apps page, and then choose the apps you want side by side, very useful when you need to jot down some information from one app to another. Once you’re in the split screen mode, you can tap on the white circle between the two apps and five options will appear.

You can switch the position of the two apps, drag and drop content from one to another, minimise an app, make it full screen or close it. Minimising is not the same as closing the app however, minimising gives the app a floating icon which you can click on and it opens up a smaller version of that app, so you have one on top of another. You can drag the app around and place it wherever you like, sort of like the Facebook chatheads. These floating apps can also be created by dragging in from either the top left or the top right corner and you can open up to five at a time. Very nice especially for Youtubing while Facebooking (seriously, are these even real verbs?).

Performance and Battery

There is no noticeable performance degradation while using these features, probably because of the Exynos 7420 octa-core processor inside the S6, the most powerful mobile processor according to benchmarks. Compared to the Snapdragon 801 in the HTC One M8, it scores much higher, however in daily use this performance increase is not obvious, though it is more future proof. All the new 3d games run very smoothly and I have no problems with the performance of the phone. Battery life on the other hand is more of a mixed bag. At the end of the day after 1hr20min of screen on time the phone had 50% battery left, which is acceptable however not exceptional. Under heavy use the phone’s battery does drop very quickly, and the most screen on time I had was roughly 3hr10min, with some light gaming and camera usage. I think most users can go through a day without reaching for a charger, though the power users among us might have to plug in before the day ends. But not for long. The phone charges amazingly quickly using the quick charger included in the box, it can go from 0-100% in under 90 mins and from 0-20 under 15 minutes, much faster than any other phone I can recall (The M8 takes 2hr and 15 minutes). The S6 also has wireless charging built-in, which makes charging effortless at a desk or on a bed side table, though at the cost of speed.

Overall, the S6 is one of the beefiest Android phones out there, with the help of the slimmed down interface and 3GB of ram, it is the fastest and the smoothest Android phone Samsung has ever made. Though battery life is not amazing, the wireless charging and short top-up times more than makes up for it.

Need help? Send a message via Twitter @billchen0014 And I will try my best

Re: Mobile Insider - Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge

The camera is one of the best thing about the S6 series. Samsung have really improved the whole camera experience starting with their Alpha series and the Note 4. The photos captured by the S6 Edge surely did not disappoint. Colours were true although a bit boosted in terms of colour, which many would prefer. Details are crisp and the depth of field is really nice. Dynamic range has also improved from the S5.

The front cam has been improved as well. I like the wide angle lens used on the front cam and the panaroma feature for easier groupfies. The quality is still below what the iPhone 6 Plus offers though. You lose a lot of detail and the image appears blotchy, with blurred patches on the skin. But during this photo I took of my action figure, the details and dynamic range on the S6 Edge looked really good on the S6 Edge.

The camera interface also has been simplified which was great. No more endless menus of options like in the previous Galaxy phones!

There's also a beautify mode where you can smoothen your skin some more.

Front camera sample, taken on the same spot. Notice the wide angle lens used on the S6 Edge.

Re: Mobile Insider - Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge

The big selling point of the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge is, well, its edge. The front glass panel of the device tapers down on both sides giving it that unique look and a very different feeling of holding the device. Let's see if paying the premium is all worth it.

The curved display is not merely for form, but Samsung added some unique functionalities to its latest flagship phone to make the most out of this stand out feature.

1. People Edge

This feature lets you pick five of your contacts and add them as shortcuts that you can swipe from your homescreen and lockscreen for quick access. They will appear as circular shortcuts, wherein you can assign a particular colour to represent each. Tapping a face will give you the option to give them a call, send them an sms or an email.

This is probably, from what I found, the most useful feature of the edge. One that I would actually be using often.

2. Edge Lighting

After assigning colours for the 5 favourite contacts you’ve picked, getting a call from them would initiate a really groovy glow on the active edge based on your assigned colours. That is, if you leave your phone face-down! I mean, who would actually leave their phone face down? I'm not gonna risk scratching my screen for this. A really cool one, but not very practical.

3. Information Stream

The information stream feature allows you to view notifications on the edge from a screen-off state. You can activate the stream by rubbing back and forth on the active edge (just like a magic lamp). You can select which type of information you want to appear. You can also install additional feeds from the Galaxy Apps store.

Among the options are the usual notifications (Briefing feed), like missed calls and texts. You can also choose which apps from the applications installed you want to appear on this feed. There’s also the Yahoo news, Yahoo sports, Yahoo finance and Twitter trends feed. You also have the option to show the current weather.

4. Night Clock

This feature shows a clock on the Edge screen while the main screen is turned off. Only the clock will be lit up while the rest of the screen is kept black. This is one advantage of the AMOLED screen as it would only use power to light the pixels that are not black. You can select the time the clock would appear and which time it will be disabled automatically.

I have read from other S6 Edge users that while the night clock is on, other parts of the screen is dimly lit. My unit from Telstra didn’t have this issue.

5. Edge Screen Position

You have the option to select which side of the screen you want to utilise for the different edge functionalities.

Re: Mobile Insider - Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge

@AnjoMiranda thanks for the update. I agree that using a camera on any phone might make it warm but I know that the xperia z1 compact used to cook and spin up an overheating control process, so was keen to confirm that prolonged camera use didn't have the same issue

Re: Mobile Insider - Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge

The wide angle lens on the front-facing camera is awesome! I've noticed, during the few minutes I played with the phone in the store, that the default ratio for images from the G6 is 16:9. I also couldn't find anywhere to change the ratio to 6x4. I did find other ratios though! Obviously I only had a look for a few moments so I was wondering whether those who are testing the device found something different on the stock camera app?

I think the edge features are good, but there's always room for improvement. It would be awesome if we could have our most used apps instead of our favourite friends, for example! Or both! I think the edge lighting is probably going to be used more by people who have some sort of screen protector (interested to hear whether they actually exist for the edge) or a case.

Re: Mobile Insider - Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge

i was about to upload the screenshot, looks like anjo got here first! There is no such aspect ratio as 6:4, though i take it you mean 3:2, and no the s6 doesn't support that, though you can use a photo editor and easy crop the photo to your liking, and the 16MP camera is perfect for that with its superb "zoomability".

Need help? Send a message via Twitter @billchen0014 And I will try my best

Re: Mobile Insider - Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge

Low light performance of the S6 has been quite good, though obviously more noisy than the ones in daylight, it is among the best in smartphones, especially in the Android camp.

The above shot was taken at sunset (duh!) and with Auto HDR ON. The Tree leaves contrasts against the background nicely and there is plenty of detail in the darker areas of the image as well. There is a little bit of digital noise in the sky but it seems welll controlled, so it shouldn't hurt the overall quality too much.

This photo is more interesting (to analyse), the centre of the image is very crisp and clear, plenty of detail on the tree trunk, though as you look up, the edges are noticably more blurry - this is a common problem with OIS (Optical Image Stablisation) equipped cameras, as you will notice that on a photo like this. Otherwse it is a decent photo for the social networks with accurate colours and good contrast.

This is a challenging photo to take, the signs and interiors of the shops are bright while the car reapirs shop is dark, and the S6 (Auto HDR) handled the exposure very well, making it a bright picture with lots of details, though some of the colour renditions is slightly on the warm side due to HDR, if you look at the pizza hut sign it is not as red as my eyes could see. You you can disable auto HDR, though I don't think you should as it does NOT affect the speed of the camera.

As bright as the photos look I can guarantee you that all the above are taken in less than ideal lighting environments, and if you really want to take it to the extremes then good luck, but in normal usage, the low light performance is more than acceptable for a smartphone.

Need help? Send a message via Twitter @billchen0014 And I will try my best

Re: Mobile Insider - Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge

Just wondering, for the benefit of those who are reading this and thinking about getting the phone on a plan, which plan would you reccomend given the data etc that you've been going through using the phones?

Re: Mobile Insider - Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge

For me personally, I would go for the M plan as my average monthly use of data is 1.5GB, and to have that extra 1GB is awesome. I upload a lot of photos and videos on Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat so this is the sweet spot for me. Plus, it's only $4 extra a month from the S Plan where you only get 1GB of data.

With the different models of the phone though, keep in mind that these particular phones (S6 and S6E) do not have expandable memory. With the 32GB as a base model, it should be sufficient for casual users.

For people who love their media, I'd go for the 64GB or even the 128GB. I love keeping my podcasts and music on my phone. I take a ton of photos (and you would with the amazing camera on this) and sometimes I would want to game a little during long commutes. I also personally do not want to worry about going out on a trip for example and thinking of what photos or videos to delete to free up space.

The operating system already consumes about 10GB of the memory, so it's important to take note of that as well.

Re: Mobile Insider - Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge

I agree with Anjo, the small plan is really not worth the $4 a month savings, so M should be the one plan you go for if you are considering this phone. In terms of storage, I definitely recommend you to spend that $4 or $8 a month to get the higher capacity as games and photos can quickly fill up the phone, 32 can be tight for a power user but perfect for casual users who just uses social networks and browse the internet.

Need help? Send a message via Twitter @billchen0014 And I will try my best